Rio Ngumoha’s mind made up as journalist reveals Liverpool star’s decision on leaving for Arsenal
Rio Ngumoha has no doubts over which club will best serve his fledgling career amid claims that Liverpool could lose the teenage star to Arsenal, while TEAMtalk sources can provide details on the agreement that the winger is close to officially signing.
The teenage star has burst onto the scene over the past 12 months, announcing his arrival in some style when he scored the winner for Liverpool in a dramatic 3-2 success at Newcastle, making him the Reds’ youngest-ever scorer in club history.
Since then, he has racked up an impressive 35 senior appearances, though he was only eligible to sign his first pro deal when he turned 18 at the end of August.
That has resulted in a bit of a scramble for his services, with initially Bayern Munich and most recently, Arsenal both linked with his services.
Regarding the Gunners, David Ornstein is among the reporters who have confirmed their interest in luring the former Chelsea academy man back to the capital; an option that could look more appealing given Mikel Arteta’s lack of quality options on the left wing and following the double departure of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli this summer.
However, TEAMtalk broke the news on September 3 that Ngumoha has agreed a new contract in principle with Liverpool, with sources understanding the club are now rapidly accelerating towards an announcement that the highly-rated winger is putting pen to paper on fresh terms at Anfield.
Now, according to a strong update from the Daily Mail’s Lewis Steele, Ngumoha is extremely happy at Anfield and only has eyes for the Merseyside giants, having backed up our claims that an extension with the Reds is now imminent…
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Rio Ngumoha can soon expect to sign Liverpool contract
Discussing the immediate priorities of Julian Ward, once he is officially confirmed as the club’s new sporting director, Steele insists the tying down of Ngumoha has to be up among his most urgent priorities.
“We know that there’s other clubs sniffing around the Ngumoha situation,” he told Anfield Index.
“We know that Liverpool are pretty much saying nothing other than ‘we love Ngumoha and we want him to stay’; we want him to be the face of our future or one of the faces.
“So I think that’s pretty much it. I think [Julian] Ward is going to be looking into doing it.
“When I checked about a week ago, or maybe was it two weeks ago, I was told by, you know, people in different parts of, you know, the deal, as it were, that it wasn’t it wasn’t done just yet.
“But I think, from what I heard, Ngumoha is happy at Liverpool, and he wants to continue at Liverpool, and he’s loving life at Liverpool.”
That is certainly great news to the Reds, and a commitment from the winger would prove the perfect fillip for a team and a club very much in transition this season.
Writing earlier this month, our transfer correspondent Graeme Bailey insists he does not any issues over the extension, with both club and player on the same page.
‘Liverpool remain in a strong position after Ngumoha chose Anfield when he left Chelsea, and the player has made it clear that his immediate future remains on Merseyside,’ Bailey stated.
‘The new contract will underline that commitment – and those in the corridors of power at Anfield will hope that the new deal will be a catalyst for the teenager to reach the next level.’
Claims that a new contract for Ngumoha is close have since been backed up by Fabrizio Romano, who explained why he is convinced that Ngumoha’s future will remain with Liverpool.
Despite all that, it was claimed last week that Arsenal had ‘hatched a plan’ to try and lure Ngumoha to Emirates Stadium and convince him to sign there.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are being tipped to ‘rescue’ Tottenham star from his ‘nightmare’ after it was claimed he ‘ticks a lot of boxes’.
